Malay women’s challenges in balancing careers and households: A textual analysis study of selected short stories by Zurinah Hassan

Abstract

Malay women today have experienced major changes in their careers. However, unlike men, they are still bound by the responsibility of managing their households, even though they have careers. Balancing between their careers and households is difficult, and they face various challenges, which have been highlighted by Malay women authors, the most prominent one being Zurinah Hassan. However, Zurinah Hassan’s short stories that discuss these issues have been scarcely studied, leaving a large research gap. As such, this study discusses the challenges faced by Malay women when balancing between their careers and households, as in Zurinah Hassan’s selected short stories. Guided by the conceptual framework of work-life balance, a textual analysis of Zurinah Hassan’s selected short stories shows that Malay women find it difficult to balance between their careers and home making. This is mainly because of challenges such as responsibility pressure from families and careers, lack of efficient time management, lack of support from family, and gender equality issues in the employment sector. This study is important as it show the issues and challenges faced by Malay women in maintaining and balancing their careers and households, from the perspective of women and based on the literature.